Spider's Expectations
by Spider-Matt
Summary: Great Expectations has never been more thrilling! The story is much more interesting when Pip has the proportionate powers of a spider. Really! Maybe Pip can get the girl this time! I slapped up the whole story, so enjoy!


Spider's Expectations

  
  
  
  


Who am I? Are you sure you want to know? The story of my life isn't for the faint of heart? If somebody said this was a happy little tale, if somebody told you I was just your average, ordinary guy without a care in the world, somebody lied! But let me assure you, this, like any story worth telling, is all about a girl. Estella! The girl I loved since I first saw her at the Satis House. I loved her before I even liked girls. Miss Havisham would have my heart broken, but I would win over Estella. I had too!

  
  


1

I was a young boy when my parents died. I don't know how they died. My sister, Mrs. Joe, never told me, and I don't think that Joe, husband to my sister and my best friend, ever knew.

I suppose I should start where I believe my life to have really begun. It was in a graveyard. I was visiting my parents' grave when a man approached me. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, but was too late to save myself from any scare.

The large bulky man grabbed my legs and flipped me upside-down. I let out a scream, but he cupped my mouth before my scream could carry anywhere.

"Money!" he yelled at me in a gruff voice.

"W-what?" I didn't understand his plight.

"Money! Give me your money!"

"I-I d-don't have any, sir. I-I'm only seven years old, if you will, and…"

"I don't care how old ye are, boy! Where do you live?"

"That way," I pointed off in the direction of my house as the pain of the blood rushing to my head increased. "Please, sir, put me upright."

"Ye aren't goin' to try any thin' funny, are ye?" he asked my suspiciously.

"N-no, I promise!"

He hesitated then said, "All right."

The stranger turned me over and put me on my parents' gravestone. It was now that I noticed that this guy had chains on his legs. He was a convict. I sat there on the stone with the man's hands gripping my arms. He was staring at me… as if he was trying to figure something out. As if a great secret was hidden in me.

Then the man said, "I have friend hidden in these parts. He is a very good spy, and a very good murderer. Ye don' do as I say, and I promise ye, you won't live to turn eight."

"I turn eight tomorrow, sir," I informed him.

The large man thought about this then corrected himself by saying, "Well, nine-years-old is a good year for every boy, an' ye won't live ta see it if ye don' do as I say."

I nodded to let the stranger know that I understood him.

"Now, here's what I want. I want food. Lots of it! And if you could, somethin' ta drink would be very nice. I also want a file. A good file. None of those cheep ones, ye hear? By the way, what's ye name, boy?"

"Pip." I told him.

"Pip? That's kind of a dumb name."

A little offended I said defensively, "Well, what's your name?!"

He opened his mouth then shut it. Then, after contemplating for a second he admitted, "Okay, I shouldn't talk. That ain't thee point, though! Hopefully you 'ave enough wits in ye to do as I say."

"I have some wits," I told him.

"Good. Now go!"

He picked me up off the gravestone, put me on the ground, and then gave me a little push in the direction of my home.

  
  


2

I knew my sister was going to kill me when I got home. I was gone for four hours and my sister had clearly let me know the day before that she wanted me to go somewhere. I had no idea where she wanted me to go or why she wanted me to go there, but I knew I'd be in trouble if I was late. When I walked in the front door, however, there was no screaming of Mrs. Joe's voice. I walked into the kitchen where I saw Joe sitting.

"Hello, Joe," I said to him. "My sister isn't around?"

"No, but she will be, Pip, 'ol chap. She ain' very happy today. And when you took off like that this mornin', not lettin' anyone know where you be goin' off to, well, she was very unhappy."

This wasn't sounding good. It didn't sound any better a second later when I heard the door to the house open and a voice screaming, "Joe, is that ungrateful brat here yet."

Joe didn't answer. He respected his wife, but he didn't like it when I was insulted. Mrs. Joe rushed into the kitchen.

"Where have you been?!" My sister yelled at me.

"I-I was at the graveyard."

"The graveyard?" she repeated. "If we don't make it to Miss Havisham's house in time I'll make sure you're in the graveyard for good!"

I was dragged out of the room and outside where a wagon waited with a horse. Miss Havisham, I was told, sent it. A man by the name of Mr. Wemmick sat with the reigns in his hands. 

It was Christmas Eve and I tried to be grateful to Mrs. Joe for bringing me up by hand. At least, that's what I was always told. And boy did she use her hand when it came to me! It was usually the backside of it, too.

When I got to the gate in front of the house, a girl about my age opened it up for me. My sister asked if she could talk to Miss Havisham and was politely told to "piss off," as I recall it.

When I was inside the gates, they closed behind me.

"Follow me, boy," the girl ordered in a condescending tone. She talked as if she were ten years older than me. I felt that this visit was going to alter the rest of my life, and I didn't like it at all.

I followed the girl around to the back of the house where there was a beautiful garden. The plants weren't the only beautiful things in the garden, however. When the girl, whose name I still had no idea of, turned to me, I got my first good glance at her face. She was gorgeous. She had luscious red hair, dreamy green eyes, and a luminescent face that could light up the night. It was if an angel had fallen from heaven above and was stranded on this hellhole of a planet.

Then she spoke to me. "Wait here."

She turned and walked toward the house. I felt something wet oozing down the side of my chin and I wiped it off. I had been drooling with my mouth wide open right in front of her.

I waited rather impatiently. It was fifteen minutes before I finally decided to look around the garden myself.

I made my way to the corner of the house where I saw a spider web stretched between the wall of the house and a purple flower. I knelt down beside it to get a closer look when something grabbed me by the neck and pulled me up.

I yelped as I was slammed against the wall and held there by a fist that belonged to a boy that could have been no more than a year older than I. He was slightly taller than I, had brown hair, an evil smirk on his face, and a venomous glare in his eye to match.

"Who are you, stranger?" he asked. I tried to answer but he cut me off. "You're not supposed to be here."

I saw a fist flying toward me and I knew I could to nothing to stop or dodge it. The fist hit my jaw and I screamed out in pain. The hand holding my neck was gone now, so I bent over feeling sick when a knee came up and hit my nose. I fell backwards into the wall. The world was spinning all around me. I heard laughter. A girl's laughter. The beautiful redhead had watched me get beat up; how humiliating.

I was then surprised to find that I could feel something crawling on my hand. Every other part of my body was in so much more pain that I didn't think I'd be able to feel anything else. My head slumped over so that I could see what was on my hand. The spider. The spider had seen me fall, too. It had to. I don't think I would miss much if I had eight eyes. As I watched it on my hand I noticed it rear back. What was it doing? Just before I passed out I saw fangs jam into my skin…

When I woke up I saw the girl sitting over me.

"Foolish boy! You don't know how to fight, do you?" she talked as if I was the most pathetic thing in existence. Such a bite for such a beauty.

"No," I answered. I was still in a bit of pain.

"Can you get up? Miss Havisham would really like to see you before you go."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Six-thirty-seven. You've been unconscious for over four hours," she informed me.

"What's your name?" I wasn't sure if I should have asked this, but I wanted to know very much.

"That is none of your business." I frowned as she said it. "It's Estella."

I smiled. She glowered.

I made it up to Miss Havisham's room and I noticed that she was dressed in all white and that all the clocks were stopped at exactly the same time. Twenty-minutes until nine.

"I'm sorry about the unfortunate incident," the old white clad woman began. "Perhaps you'll have more fun when you drop by a week from now."

"I don't want to come back," I said truthfully.

"What?! Not even to see the pretty face of Estella again? You do think she is pretty, don't you?"

"Uh… Yes," I began, "I think she is as dazzling as an angel. But she doesn't seem to care for me much. She speaks down to me a lot and…"

"Pip!" Miss Havisham snapped. "I did not ask what she thinks of you. What do you think of her?" There was a malicious smile on the old woman's face. I was beginning to think that was the only kind of smile that popped up around there.

"I think she is pretty," I said more bluntly this time. "Pretty insulting! I'd like to go home now."

I was told to leave the room, and when I did I was almost positive that I heard the old hag tell Estella, "You'll get to break his heart. Don't worry. I promise you can break his heart."

  
  


3

At seven-thirty I sat down to eat dinner in my own house. I was glad to be back home, but I had business to attain to. I, being the master bolter that I was, was able to bolt much of my food until Joe caught on.

"Pip, I don't like to be squealin' on you, but bolting food just isn't healthy. You must be sick, and that must be taken care of."

He just cares too much, I told myself. I really wanted to give him a swift kick in the ass, though, because now I would have to put up with…  
"The tar-water for you! Come on," Mrs. Joe grabbed my arm and started dragging me along into the kitchen. Tar-water had to be the nastiest thing in the world. God just had humans make it as a punishment for being so full of sin as they were. Hey, isn't that why Jesus died?!

When that was done, however, I was still able to keep the food I had hidden. Now I just had to wait until everyone was asleep.

That night I snuck into the kitchen and pored the whiskey into a canteen and put some of the tar-water into the whiskey jar. I also stole a file out of the bathroom. I felt kind of guilty, but I had no time for guilt now! I had to get back to the graveyard.

As I ran the trail I knew by heart, I noticed that I did it with the greatest of ease. I was able to keep up a steady pace without breathing hard at all.

Once at the graveyard, the convict found me rather quickly. He came up from behind, again without a noise. I knew he was there, though. I didn't hear or see him, but I knew he was there. I turned around.

"Ye got what I asked for?" the man asked.

I nodded.

"Good," he said as he took the food, canteen, and file from me. "What's in 'ere?" he asked, gesturing to the canteen.

"Whiskey. You like it, I hope?"

"Oh, yes, very good. Very good, indeed. This food is very good. Thankee boy, thankee very much."

"I'm glad you enjoy it," I told him sincerely.

"What?" he looked up from his meal.

"I said," I began to repeat my self, "I'm glad you enjoy it."

"That I do. Thankee."

It was then that I left. I didn't want anyone knowing I was out so late. Although I didn't know at the time, it was just a beginning of many late nights.

I ran home and crawled into bed. I was amazed at how stealthily I carried out everything that night. I was able to leave the house and enter it without a sound. I got the whiskey and file without waking anyone up. This was the beginning.

  
  


4

An uneventful week passed, other than carrying on my studies with my tutor Biddy, and it was time to go back to the Satis House. I don't know why it was called this. I never cared to find out.

Once there, however, things went almost exactly as they had the time before. Almost.

I was taken into the garden by Estella and told to wait. So I did. Once again, she was gone for many minutes and I decided to walk around once more. I was going to be more wary this time, I promised myself.

I found the wall I had been held up against a week before. I looked at it and laughed to myself.

Then there was the buzzing. It was a buzzing in the back of my skull that, in some odd way, made me aware of all of my surroundings. I noticed a bee flying by a flower six feet away. Not something a normal person would notice unless purposely looking for it. The bee was, at the moment, doing nothing to try to hurt me. Whatever was behind me wanted to, though. I knew, the same way I knew the convict came up behind me, that there was something trying to inflict pain upon me, and if I wished not to feel that pain I had to move NOW! I did.

I quickly pushed my body the left and a fist went zooming by my head. I turned around in time to see the same brown-haired kid as last week throwing another fist at me. I ducked. Another fist. I moved to the right. Then, as more fists came at me, I moved right and left to dodge each one. Something had happened to me. I was fighting extraordinarily.

Then the brown-haired kid lunged at me. I flipped forward and I went right over him. I turned around once more. I couldn't believe it. He wasn't giving up. He came at me again. But this time I took the offensive. I shot out my own fist and rammed it into the kid's chest. The boy flew backward straight into the wall that I had been smashed into a week before.

I smiled with triumph. I felt that I had achieved something, but I had no idea what. I looked over to my right and saw Estella standing there with her mouth open.

"What did you do to Herbert? You freak!" she yelled at me. Estella ran back into the house. I had no idea what to do. I was only protecting myself.

As it ended up, Miss Havisham found my actions amusing. She didn't even seem to care about the damage done to that boy. I couldn't even remember the name.

Things of similar nature continued that night when I was back at home and a visitor knocked at my door. I was told to go answer it, which I did. Standing there was a tall man holding out handcuffs. I thought I was about to be arrested when he saw Joe and said, "Ah, the blacksmith. I need your help."

The soldier needed to get the cuffs open. He didn't have a key, he informed us, and was chasing a couple of dangerous criminals.

"Would you mind if Pip and I followed you, just to see how things turn out?" Joe asked the soldier.

"Well, I don't mind. But you have to be careful. I don't want anyone getting hurt."

Neither did I. Although, after the events of that afternoon, I didn't think I'd be experiencing much pain from that point on. That had to have been one of the most false assumptions in history.

Joe got the cuffs fixed and we went off into the forest looking for a couple of convicts. There were more soldiers outside. The one who seemed to be in charge of the chase introduced himself as John. I thought it was odd that he gave us his first name, but perhaps it was a last name.

I didn't know if I should have spoken up. Perhaps told where I had seen one convict. But then it would be known that I helped out a criminal. Worse than that, I stole to help a criminal.

As we walked on, I got the buzzing in the back of my skull once again. I was starting to get used to it. The buzzing meant something was going to happen that I wouldn't like. Heavy buzzing meant I was in real danger. There always seemed to be something wrong going on, and there was definitely something dangerous happening now.

"Get down!" I shouted as loud as I could. I pushed John and Joe down to the ground just as a loud crack was heard. I noted how easy it was to push two grown men down and then I lifted my head to have a look around.

"What the bloody hell?" John cursed as he got up. I tripped him backwards as another gunshot went off.

"How did a bloody convict get a gun?" John asked himself as the other soldiers looked around trying to figure out exactly where the maniac with the gun was.

"Must 'ave stolen it from somewhere," Joe stated.

"Well, I'm sure he didn't buy it at a marketplace," the John spat.

John got up and started walking forward. Shouting could now be heard and as Joe and I followed John and when we got past a few trees ahead we saw two convicts wrestling in a giant ditch. There was also a gun on the ground. John took his own gun and shot into the air. The wrestling convicts stopped their pushing and shoving and punching and looked up.

One of them was the convict that I had helped out. He noticed me immediately. I shook my head quickly so that he understood that I didn't lead anyone to him.

"I think you're both aware that you're going down under. You'll never see England again, I'm sure of that. Come on." John had his gun pointed at the convicts to make sure that they wouldn't try anything tricky. As if they would try to escape a good dozen soldiers.

Joe and I returned home. Once inside our own house once more, Joe turned to me and said, "I don't know how ye could 'ave known those gun shots were comin', but ye may 'ave saved John's and my life. Yer a smart chap. I hope ye always remember that with great power the must also come great responsibility. Yer going to be something great when ye gets older. I know ye will, I know it."

I never forgot what Joe said to me that day. It meant a lot. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but I found out in later years. I would always remember to use whatever power I had for good.

  
  


5

As the years passed, my weird capabilities never vanished. They continued to help me throughout life. I used them for chores and such. But I knew that I could never use them to win over Estella.

I made many more trips back to the Satis House. None of them very pleasing. Estella had no interest in me, but each time I returned I hoped that that would be the time she would see who I really was and would fall desperately in love with me. No such luck.

One day at the Satis House I had really taken an insulting. Estella tried had hard as she could to hurt me. She succeeded.

"You are common boy," Estella said to me. "You aren't worth anything. You probably aren't even a very efficient worker. You wear filthy clothes and your hair is never combed handsomely. Give me a kiss."

"What?" I asked. I was taken off guard by the last statement.

"I want you to give me a kiss. Go ahead," Estella urged.

I leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"You kiss like a common working boy, too. You have nothing going for you and you will never be worth the price it is to feed you each day."

She stuck her chin up, but did not turn to leave. It was if she was waiting for something. I didn't know what at first, but then it suddenly came to me. I was going to cry and she knew it. She wanted to see me cry. She wanted to see how much she had hurt me. She wanted to know if she did a good enough job. I didn't want her to see me cry, though. I turned my head and let the tears fall down my face.

"A thirteen-year-old crying!" Estella mocked. "How pathetic. You even have to look away when you do it. You're too afraid to let me see you cry."

Estella walked away with a sinister smirk on her face. That was when I let the tears flow freely. Estella was tearing my heart apart and she knew it!

Just then I heard shouts. They were saying, "Stop that man. Orlick has stolen precious jewelry from Miss Havisham. Stop him!"

I turned and watched the man run by. I could have stopped him. I most certainly had the power. But I didn't want to do anything about it. Not after what I had just been through. I walked away with tears streaming down my face.

  
  


6

That day when I got home I confided to Biddy. She was my tutor and she was a couple years my senior. She was always there when I needed her.

"Biddy," I informed, "there is a girl at the Satis House. She is gorgeous! She's the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my life. I want to be with her, but she is so insulting. She is cruel and uncaring. I don't know what I should do. She thinks very low of me. She would never have me as I am. I'm too common for her."

"Why would you want to be with someone so insulting to you?" Biddy asked. "She is clearly not a kind girl by any means. I'd think you'd want someone more caring. Someone who would always be there for you."

At the time, I knew subconsciously what Biddy was hinting at. I dismissed it, though. I would always ignore such statements from her, until it was too late to do anything about them.

"Estella is so pretty, though. She lures me to her. I can't help myself," I told Biddy.

"There are some things greater than beauty. Love doesn't concentrate on good looks. When you love someone, you love her soul, not her body."

Biddy was smart. I always knew that. But that remark would later inform me of how wise she was, too.

"Thank you, Biddy. I'll remember that. But I think I can reach Estella… I have to…"

  
  


7

Weeks, months, years all passed without any difference in my progression with Estella. Each time I saw her I was more drawn to her yet more repelled. I wanted to be rid of her but I knew I would always go back for more. I figured Estella would never want me as a commoner, but maybe she would have me as a gentleman. That was what I wanted to become. Soon enough, though, my dream would come and teach me another life lesson. Be careful what you wish for.

When I was seventeen-years-old a man appeared at my door saying he had a proposition for me. I was currently an apprentice blacksmith (which my enhanced strength helped me out nicely with) and that was what I had always figured I would do for a living. This man who came to my house changed that, however. He was a lawyer named Mr. Jaggers.

Mr. Jaggers was invited in and he sat discussing his business with me at the dinner table over a cup of tea. Joe, of course, was there listening also.

"You see, you are to become a gentleman," explained Jaggers. "Your benefactor, who requested to remain anonymous, is putting a lot of money into you. You have great expectations. Remember Pip, with great expectations comes great responsibility."

"What?" I said a little shocked by this statement. That was one thing I didn't expect to hear. That sounded an awful lot like a statement I had heard a while back. I didn't like the idea of having all this responsibility.

"I said," Jaggers was getting ready to repeat himelf.  
"Never mind," I told him. " I'm assuming that Miss Havisham wants me to become a gentleman so that I can be better suited for Estella?"

"You are to keep such foolish assumptions to yourself," Jaggers scolded.

"Yes. Right," I said.

"Now," Jaggers turned to Joe, "Whatever money you may have lost due to losing Pip as an apprentice you will get it. How much money will you be wanting?"

Joe seemed astounded.

"I cannot put a price on Pip," Joe informed. "Pip is worth a great deal to me, but not anything money can buy. I would never stand in the way of Pip doing what he wants and becoming a gentleman. I want no money for him and…"

"Thank you, that's all the information I needed. You didn't have to take the long way to get to the point. I'll be leaving now, and I'm taking my large sum of money, too. Are you sure you don't want any money for Pip, Joe?"

"I'm sure," Joe said while he looked Jaggers straight in the eye.

"Well, that's good." Jaggers looked contempt. Then again, he never looked any other way. "Your loss."

Jaggers got up and walked over to the door. He stopped in front of it, turned to me and said, "I'll see you, Pip, next week around this time. Be ready to leave for London."

Jaggers opened the door and left the way he came… in an extravagant carriage.

A week passed in no time and I was off to London. Joe was sad to see me go. He told me to take care of myself, and I told him the same.

I'll never forget my first week in London. Just getting out of a small town and moving into a big city is an experience not easily forgotten.

As I rode down the street in the extravagant carriage I wanted to ride since I first saw it a week ago, I noticed all the poor people on the side of the road begging for money and food. I would have liked to help them out. I had no money, though.

Jaggers began speaking then. "Remember, if you need money you come to me. Your mysterious benefactor…"

I laughed at that moment and Jaggers asked what was so humorous.

"Well," I told him, "I just think it's funny that you referred to my benefactor as mysterious."

"He is mysterious to you, isn't he Pip?" Jaggers inquired.

"Yes," I said hesitantly, "but not to you."

"Right," Jaggers continued what he was saying before my, what he considered it to be, immature chuckle. "Your benefactor wants you to be as comfortable as possible, so you name a price and the money is yours."

Jaggers finished. All of his talking was done in such a toneless voice it left me rather dumbfounded. I didn't know what to think. Was he trying to be friendly at all? Did he care about making friends at all? It didn't really matter. I'd figure it out later. Now it was time to take in the sites of the brilliant city of London!

I was brought to Barnard's Inn and was showed to my room. As I unpacked I thought about my wonderful fortune. This would be great. I could become a gentleman and win Estella's heart. I knew Miss Havisham wanted us to be together. I was sure of it.

It was not soon after I finished unpacking and I started to look around when someone walked into my room. It must be Herbert Pocket. I was told I'd be rooming with him.

I turned around and my smile disintegrated. I was now wearing a scowl on my face. I raised my fist lunged at the man.

"Wait!" the intruder screeched as I grabbed his shirt threateningly. "I-I'm Herbert Pocket… Your roommate…"

"You?! Do you remember what you did to me?" I growled.

Herbert stared at me in a moment of silence. Then it dawned on him who I was. He gave a worried chuckle.

"Heheh. Look, that day at the Satis House… I was just…uh… I was protecting family, you know? I didn't know you were invited. Besides, you got your revenge. You should have it out of your system. You don't want to hold a grudge because I beat you up once… you got even…" He was now sounding very pathetic. Like a victim pleading for his life. I think he actually thought I was going to kill him. It was my turn to laugh.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I assured Herbert. "Just kind of startled me seeing you here. Come on in. Unpack and get settled in."

As I sat down Herbert began talking. "So, uh… How'd you learn to fight that good in just one week? That's a short amount of time to learn how to fight so well."

"I knew how to fight all along," I began, trying to cover my butt. "I didn't think you would actually beat me up. I thought you were just trying to intimidate me or something. You know?"

"Not really. That's not the point. As long as the past is behind us.."

"Yes. Let's not dig up past mistakes," I agreed.

"Let us bury the past in a bottle of whiskey!"

"I agree with that too!"

We opened up a bottle of whiskey and drank and talked long into the night. We forgot all of life's complications for a few hours. Then the hangover came.

  
  


8

As the weeks past I learned about the difficulties of becoming a gentleman. Like this one time when I went into a clothing store (a very expensive and good quality clothing store, mind you) almost every piece of clothing I picked out for myself Jaggers had to return and pick something much more "gentlemanish." That also meant something much more uncomfortable. Why did God spite me so?  
Then one night while I was eating, Herbert corrected every little thing I did. Like I wasn't allowed to put the silverware in my mouth or something. Actually I think it was just the knife, but still. I wasn't allowed to do anything. I had to keep my elbows off the table and everything. He's like a nagging mother. But how could I get mad at that face. Hell, if I wasn't going after Estella… But I am going after Estella and that's all that matters. My life didn't turn out to be a horrible slash story, and for that I'm thankful. Now back to feeling sorry for myself.

The day came when the letter came. The letter is a letter that brought grave news to me that I didn't want to hear. Mrs. Joe had died! Sure she was a wench to me, but she did all she could to raise me. She really did care just like a big sister should. She was really a good person at heart, and now it appeared that she had been murdered.

I had to make it to her funeral. No matter how busy my life might have been I just had to make it! I already felt bad enough distancing myself from everyone I really cared about, now I had to do something to repay them. Attending Mrs. Joe's funeral would be a small favor, but at least I could see the people I love again.

So the next day I was off. I left to go back to my town to see old friends and faces. When I arrived there was more disturbing news that was left out of the letter that I guess I hadn't thought of much. The killer escaped and was still at large. I was angry beyond belief. The anger boiled inside of me as I thought about what I should do. Then I heard a soft voice call my name.

"Pip, it's me Biddy."

I turned around and saw Biddy standing there, more beautiful than ever. Not nearly as beautiful as Estella though. I suddenly thought back years ago when she had told me "Love doesn't concentrate on good looks."

I had remembered just as I had promised, and I was still chasing after Estella.

"Biddy!" I beamed at her. It wasn't fake, either. I was happy to see her. "How have you and Joe been?"

We gave each other a quick hug then separated.

"We've been managing all right. How about you?" Biddy returned the question.

"Oh, I've been fine." I couldn't manage to say any more. It really tore me up inside knowing how much I might have hurt Biddy, and probably continued to hurt Biddy, while chasing Estella. Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe I couldn't reach Estella. But I would never give up.

There was an awkward silence as Biddy and I just stood looking at the ground while everyone else passed by chatting and crying.

"I'm glad you could make it," Biddy picked up the pathetic excuse for a conversation once more. "Glad to see you weren't too busy learning to become a gentleman."

"How could you even think that I would miss something like this? I cared for the old bat, too!" I had said that last part a bit too loudly, because a rather large part of the crowd had heard and I had to slink off so that no one would lose their temper and kill me. Actually, the only reason that didn't happen was probably because I said what everyone else was afraid to say.

Biddy followed me and stopped me when she thought we were far enough away from the angry part of the crowd.

"Look, I'm sorry… I care about you and I just…" She trailed off. She looked away. She seemed to be looking far off into the distance as if the horizon would hold what she was looking for. Biddy looked back at me and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Just don't lose touch with who you really are."

Biddy turned and was quickly engulfed in the crowd of people. I was too shocked to think for a moment. Then I realized that the Pip that Biddy loved was probably already gone.

When I left the funeral, someone wanted to catch me by surprise. I could sense danger coming up quickly from behind and I moved swiftly to the side. The man who had lunged at me fell on the ground. He got up and started running as fast as he could while yelling back to me, "You want to know the story behind your pathetic sister, follow me!"

I followed him all right! I could have easily caught up to him and pounded him, but I wanted to find out who he was and where he was taking me.

The stranger ended up leading me to a vacant shack in the middle of a field. He ran into the shack and I followed warily.

As I entered the man leaped at me. I ducked as he flew overhead. I turned, grabbed him by his shirt and then lifted him in the air.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "Why have you lead me here?"

"Have you not guessed who I am yet?" the weird freak began to speak to me. His face was covered in shadow, but I didn't care at the moment. "I am the person you let run by you at Miss Havisham's house!"

I moved him over slightly so his face would be in the light of the candle lit in the corner of the room. Sure enough, it was the face of that dark haired troublemaker.

"And…" I tried to get him to get to a point. "Why do I care?"

"My name is Orlick!," The man shouted. "I was after Biddy for years. But she always wanted you. She would never talk to me! I tried to be her friend. I tried to help her feel happy when she was down… But Biddy always wanted to go to you! It was always you Biddy was after and she was too blind to see that you didn't want her! You were just using her all along, weren't you?!"

I stuttered.

"You hurt her in the worst possible way! You didn't even think of what you were doing to her. You just kept going on about Estella and…"

"Are you some kind of stocker?" I inquired. Something I shouldn't have said.

"You shut up! I was looking out for Biddy. I tied to keep her safe. But I couldn't. I couldn't keep her from heartbreak. As much as she went to you looking for a shoulder to cry on, you always turned her away. You told her you didn't want to be that close to her. All she wanted was to love you!" Orlick started to get really angry. I had to bring the conversation to a close, and find out what this maniac wanted.

"That's all good and fine, but what do you want?"

"I want to hurt you a hell of a lot more than what you did to Biddy. You certainly deserve it, don't you think?" the lunatic before me asked. I was pretty sure it was rhetorical question, but I answered anyway.

"No."

"Well, you do! So I killed you beloved sister!" Orlick started to laugh the most sinister laugh I ever heard when I cut him off.

"That was a punishment? I should thank you! I'm sure Joe will be a lot better off and…"

"That's it! It's time to finish what I started. I'm going to kill you dead!"

From that last statement, I was pretty sure Orlick wasn't in his right mind, but I still had to act defensively. Orlick was coming at me fast and I instinctively jumped out of the way. I then found myself doing something else instinctively. Something weird. I had my arms outstretched and my middle and ring finger of eached hand were pressed on my palms. A white strand of what appeared to be a large web came out of my wrist. 

It was the weirdest thing. It was as if I knew I had the ability all along. I was frozen in disbelief. This gave Orlick a chance to recuperate and make another go at me. I struck out with my right fist and it landed on Orlick's jaw.

Orlick went flying back and I fell to the ground. I picked myself up, then walked slowly over to see what kind of condition I had put my fearful opponent in.

Orlick's face was deformed. I nearly punched the guy's head off his shoulders. After all the years with these powers, I still hadn't gotten used to them.

I left Orlick's corpse to be discovered by whoever decided to look at that shack next. Who knew when that would be, but that murder was my little secret. I wasn't at all happy about it. I was actually depressed. The madman did deserve it, but I shouldn't have killed him…

I thought deep into the night while sitting at the top of Big Ben. Mrs. Joe didn't deserve to die. She wasn't the sweetest lady in the world, but she did what she could for me. Maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but still…

I had to make up for this somehow. I let Orlick get away once, and Mrs. Joe payed the price. I would always remember from that day forward that with great power, there must come great responsibility. I let my sister down, so I will never let anyone down again.

I made up a costume for myself so no one would know who I was. If it was known, people could hunt me down and kill me, or worse, my loved ones. I became the Spider-Man! I was the protector of the innocents and I would never kill again, even if murder was deserved!

  
  


9

"There comes a time in every young man's life when he turns twenty-one." Jaggers was trying to tell me something important, and he was going about it the wrong way. I wished he would just be more straightforward. He never seemed to have a problem with that before.

"Unless that man dies before living twenty-one years," I butted in.

Jaggers turned to me and nodded. "Yes, I suppose that is true. Nevertheless, you are not dead, but you are twenty-one."

"Amazing. I will continue sitting in your office with my jaw hanging open in awe of your intelligence while continuing to assume you have a point." I was getting a bit snappy. I should have been more patient, but earlier that day I had gotten a letter which informed me that Estella wanted to see me at the Satis House. I wanted to be on my way as soon a possible.

"Yes, I have a point, my smart mouthed friend. It is this. You no longer have the privilege of having unlimited money from your benefactor. You are of age, and that means you must learn responsibility. You know what that word means, I hope." Jaggers shot a glance in my directions.

"Yes," I said as a frown curved on my lips, "I am aware of the word."

"Good. Your allowance is to be five hundred pounds a month. I am wanted somewhere right now, however, and have to leave. Good day, Pip." Jaggers left the room and I got up from my chair.

I spent more than five hundred pounds last month. I was going to have to cut down on many things. I then remembered Estella and rushed out of Jaggers office.

I changed into my costume in a small alley where no one could see me, and then I swung over London in my Spider-Man costume using the webs that I found out I could make just a couple months ago. I had been practicing using the webs and I now had almost perfect accuracy. I could also use my spider sense to tell me where exactly I had to shoot the web. My powers never ceased to amaze me. However, there weren't enough big buildings to get me all the way to the Satis House, so I had to go by carriage. It would also look suspicious if I got there without any means of transportation.

I got to the inn and changed back to Pip in a nearby alley before walking in. When I got to my room, Herbert wasn't there. I left a note saying I would be gone the rest of the day, and then I left.

I arrived at the Satis House earlier than I thought. I walked up to the gate. A man I had never seen before opened it up. They had gotten someone new.

"Good afternoon, sir," said the stranger.

"Good afternoon," I replied.

I was escorted up to the house and the door flew open before the new gate opener and I had reached the doorstep. Estella came running out.

"Pip!" she called out. "How have you been? It has been a while."

"Yes. It's been three months, twenty one days, five hours, twenty three minutes, eight seconds, and forty-two milliseconds since our last encounter," I informed the love of my life.

"That's frightening," Estella told me. "Come inside. We have much to talk about."

I followed her into the house. The first thing she told me was shocking. It was definitely not what I expected.

"I must warn you not to fall in love with me," Estella said.

My jaw dropped in astonishment as we entered a living room and sat down.

"How can you ask me such a thing? I've loved you since I first caught site of you. I couldn't stop loving you if I tried. You are a part of my existence, a part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since - on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets, and even in the alleys where I change into Spider-Man…" I stopped there hoping she hadn't heard that last part.

"What was that last part?" Estella asked.

Good!

"Nothing. You must understand how much I love you, though!"

"I can't feel love!" she tried to explain to me. "I know the word, but I'm not capable of feeling it."

"I see. Then I will take my leave for now. I can't take much more of this. I… I can't stay here anymore." I got up and left.

When I arrived back at the inn decided to go do some web slinging. It always helped to clear my head.

I changed into my Spider-Man costume and jumped out the window. Once outside I shot a web out and it caught onto a building. I swung through the city on my webs until I heard a yell for help.

"Help! He stole my bag of ducats!"

A bag of ducats! People these days. I bet he was going to buy his wife a present with those ducats.

I flung myself down in front of the man running away with the jingling bag.

"Excuse me, but it seems you've stolen some ducats from that sweet old man back there and…"

The thief took a swing at me. He missed of course, and I swatted at him. The thief flew backwards a few yards. I grabbed the bag of ducats and returned it to the victim.

"Thank you very much, sir," said the sweet old man. I don't know if he noticed I was dressed much differently than everyone else, but I doubted he cared.

As I swung into the air again, I looked back in time to see the man whose ducats I just saved walk into a pub. Maybe it wasn't a gift for his wife he had in plan.

I swung around the city some more. It wasn't long at all before I noticed someone assaulting a young lady. She was being dragged into an alley and no one around seemed to be willing to help. I never could figure out why the public couldn't help out a little with the problems in this world. It wouldn't be that much to just punch out that jerk.

I swerved into the alley and stuck onto a wall above the aggressor. The man had the woman pinned up against the wall.

"Let the lady go, scum bucket," I called down to him. He looked up, yelled, and backed away from the lady. I jumped down off the wall and told the lady to take off.

"What was that? I would hate to think that you were doing something to that poor lady that is disrespectful. Something you know you shouldn't be doing…" I was cut off.

"She's my wife, I can do what I please to her!" he informed me.

"Issat so? Well," I began as I advanced on the assailant, "I don't think it's a particularly polite thing when you beat your wife around. She's not going to do anything nice for you if you act like that to her."

"S-she'll do a-as I say…"

The man was going to make a run for it any second and I knew it. So I lunged at him, grabbed his shirt, picked him up, and pinned him against the wall.

"Here's the deal." I wrapped him up in my web, which stuck him to the wall. "I won't eat you if you never lay a hand on that woman, your wife, again!"

"E-eat me?"

"Yeah! You know what spiders do with their prey after they have it caught in their web, don't you?"

"E-eat me?"

"Heh. I think you get the hang of it."

I left him stuck to the wall and took off. Men who think they can do what ever they want to another human being always pissed me off. The law had to be changed. I hated the fact that women could be beaten to death and there would be no penalty.

Without being interrupted by any other scum of the earth, I made my way to Big Ben. It was my favorite place to sit and think. I noticed that it was very peaceful and, of course, no one else was at the top to bother me.

  
  


10

That night when I got home Herbert had some big news for me. He said that he was starting a magazine.

"What?" I said astonished.

"I'm starting my own magazine. It'll be called The Mirror. I want you to help me out with it. You can be a business partner."

"What are you going to write about in this magazine?" I asked, quite hesitant about Herbert's new idea.

"We can write about things that go on in this city that other papers don't cover," Herbert told me.

I sighed and said I'd be his partner. I didn't want to discourage him.

"I just need to get some loans. I know we're already deep in debt, but I think we could take care of all our money problems with this magazine."

I wasn't too sure of the idea, but I had to help out my best friend. Maybe the idea would work out after all. I decided to help out with my monthly payment of five hundred pounds. This really cut down on what I bought for myself, but within a few months, Herbert was able to get loans from other places as well and get his magazine started.

We both wrote all sorts of articles to put into the first issue. One of my articles became very popular and caused thousands of people all over London to go out and buy The Mirror. The article was titled "Man Spider Stalks City." I had a wonderful article written about a man who saved people when there was no hope left. However, Herbert said that fear sells more and I was told to rewrite the article. I wanted my friend to be happy with his magazine, so I did as he asked.

Soon people all over London thought I was an evil man out to eat their children, or something. I can't remember everything I wrote to please Herbert. Whatever I wrote, it must have been frightening, because people were actually afraid of me. They would scream in fright when I swung overhead.

I got tired of it and I had to write a good article about Spider-Man. Once I was able to persuade Herbert to get me to put in some positive articles, London had mixed feelings about the masked adventurer known only to them as Spider-Man.

Then came the day my whole world was turned upside-down. Even more so than when I got my bizarre powers at Miss Havisham's.

Remember the convict I helped all those years ago? The one I gave food to and everything? Well, he returned. It was quite unexpected, as was the news he told me.

"You see, Pip," said Abel Magwitch, which ended up being the convicts actual name, "I'm the one who has been giving you the money to become a gentleman."

I was stunned. I had thought it was Miss Havisham. But now… I didn't know what to think. All that I had was from a convict. It was illegal money!

"Well, this is a shock," was all I could manage at the moment. I stared off into nothingness, stunned at the news I had just found out.

Once again, I had to get out. I had to go think, and I had to do it alone the only way I could. I dismissed myself my saying I felt a little ill, and went to my room. I changed to costume and jumped out my window.

As I swung around the city I found a celebration somewhere downtown. I had no idea what it was about, but I sat at the top of the building and watched all the happy people down below. If only I could have been that happy.

An elegant carriage pulled up to the building. It was by far the most elegant carriage I had ever seen. The door opened and out walked Queen Victoria. What was she doing here? I looked over the edge of the building to see what building I was actually on. It was a theater. No wonder.

As people cleared a path for the queen, my spider-sense went off. I looked around to figure out where the danger was. I spotted it. The danger was in the form of a nut dressed in a green costume standing on a winged contraption flying through the air. What was this about?

The green man swooped down aiming his flying glider at… the queen! Worse than that, he had what looked like a small orange pumpkin in his hand. It looked like just a pumpkin, but my spider-sense told me otherwise.

The green freak threw the pumpkin and exploded right where Queen Victoria was standing… moments before I swooped down and grabbed her, taking the queen out of harm's way.

"Stay down!" I yelled back at the queen as I swung up on my web to meet the green-garbed jerk.

"You fool!" yelled the green man as he turned on his glider avoiding my punch at him in midair. "I'm trying to help England!"

"Really? I can tell," I called after him as I land on a wall.

"Nothing will stop me from doing what I must do!"

The green loon came at me and he had two miniature pumpkin bombs in each hand. He threw all four at me. My spider-sense kept me ahead of them. I shot out a web line that caught onto the glider and it pulled me right off the building I was sticking to, along with pieces of the wall still sticking to my feet. I pulled myself up to the villain and knocked him off the flying metal glider. He pulled me with him. We fell about a hundred feet through the air and came to a stop with a smack! Luckily, the green suited scoundrel was under me, and he took the worst of it.

His green suit was mostly armor, so he got up off the ground just as quickly as I did. We traded punches on the street with many onlookers, including the queen.

"Who are you, and why do you want the queen dead?" I asked as I pounded into the villain's green helmet.

"I am someone who is sick of the injustice of the law," I was informed as I took a blow in the ribs.

"And you expect to be taken seriously by blowing things up in that hideous green armored costume?" I asked as I kicked him in his stomach.

"Have you looked at your costume lately?" he said insulted. Then he punched my stomach, rammed his elbow into my back when I bent over, and brought his knee up to meet my face. I passed out.

When I woke up, I was lying on a building top that must have been about three miles away from where I saved the queen.

"Spider-Man, glad to see you're finally awake," said a voice that I recognized as belonging to the attacker from earlier.

I was still drowsy, but I managed to utter, "What do you want?"

"I want to fix the system. The law is always convicting the innocent and punishments are too harsh. People don't deserve the kind of treatment that they get in this country. The people deserve better," the jerk concluded.

"Look," I was up on my feet now, feeling a lot better, "who ever you are…"

"Just call me the Green Goblin!"

"Okay, Goblin. I don't know what your grudge against the government is exactly…"

"I just told you…"

I cut him off so I could continue. "Whatever you don't like about it, it's not going to be solved by blow the queen to bits. That'll just complicate things more, and make things worse for you."

"Wrong! I'm not the only person who feels this way. In fact, I'd like you to join me. You know things aren't what they should be over in parliament. Join me and we can rule this county. Think about what we could accomplish together. There is no profit to be made as a hero! If we team together we could turn this country into the greatest in the world. Think about it, hero!" With that the Green Goblin took off on his glider.

I swung my way home and when I got there I saw Abel Magwitch sleeping on the sofa. I had almost forgotten about him. I still had that problem to worry about. Well, like they say, tomorrow's another day. It sure was.

When I woke up in the morning it was because Magwitch woke me up so I could eat the breakfast he had prepared for me. I decided that I had to have a better conversation with this convict than I had had the previous day. I had to make things clear for him, and for me. I still hadn't decided what I was going to do.

"Magwitch," I began once he, Herbert, and I were all sitting out in the living room, "I don't know if I can go on living off this money that you've provided for me."

"Why's that?" asked Magwitch, who was quite shocked.

"Well, it's money that came from a convict. It's not exactly legal. You got it over in the colony, that right?"

"Yes. I earned it so you could live a good life, just like you wanted me to have. Because you helped me out, I'm returning the favor," the convict explained.

"Yeah, but I can't use this money, it's… Never mind." I couldn't explain it. What I did know was that if Magwitch was caught in England he would be sentenced to death. I didn't want that. "Still, I said, I need help you get out of this country."

"Get me out? I worked so hard to get back here!"

"Yeah, but I know for a fact that if you're found in this country you'll be given death," I declared.  
"Yes, that is a fact. But I'm not going back to the colony," Magwitch stated.

"Okay," I agreed, "but you need to get out of this country."

"Not yet! I have some things I have to do first."

I had no idea what Magwitch would have to do in England, but I stayed out of his hair about it. I thought it best to let him get it done and do what he wants quickly, so I could get him out of the country faster. I had a feeling that I would only be wasting time by arguing with Magwitch about it.

I let Marwitch do his thing, and I went off to do mine. I had to find that lunatic who called himself the Green Goblin. He could really hurt people, or worse, kill people. I couldn't let that happen. I changed into costume and was off to see if I could find that flying villain.

As I scoured the city I saw something I thought I would never see. Another costumed adventurer. It was a woman! What was she doing? She had on a tight black uniform and she had long beautiful platinum blonde hair. She also wore a mask over her eyes.

I swung over to the building she was standing atop. As I walked over to her she just stood there waiting with a smirk on her face that I didn't like all that much.

"You must be Spider-Man," were the first words the strange woman said to me.

"Who are you? Why would you think of becoming a hero? You're a… Well, you're a woman. This much to dangerous of a job for…" My attempts of getting her to leave and forget her new career as a crime fighter (I could only assume that's what she wanted to do) failed.

"What makes you think I'm on your side?" the woman said in a sly voice. I hesitated and she continued. "I am, however. I just want to help. I heard there was a lunatic flying around London trying to kill the queen. I'm not going to sit back and wait for Victoria's murder."

"Queen Victoria."

"It doesn't matter! What's she going to do? Kill someone who's trying to help for not putting her title at the beginning of her name?"

"She might," I insisted.

"Okay, you can think that. I guess you haven't had much luck with the people you help. But I appreciate what you do for these people. You're part of the reason I'm doing this. I admire you. I wanted to help out London just like you Spider. I was hoping we could become a team. I can see it now, Spider-Man and the Black Cat…"

As she droned on about her fantasies, I noticed something about her. Surely she wasn't the only person I've seen with platinum blonde hair, but there aren't a lot of people with it. Especially with that voice. I knew that voice! This woman was…

"Biddy?" I asked, just as surprised at the realization as she was. "What are you doing? It's dangerous out here! There are all sorts of things that could be the end of you. You don't even have any powers!"

"Who are you?" Biddy snapped. She seemed angry that I knew her and she had no idea who I was. I decided to make it even.

"Biddy, it's me, Pip!" I yanked my mask off the reveal my face. Biddy gasped.

"H-how?"

"It's a long story," I explained. "It's not important though. What makes you think you can fight super powered villains?"

"Well, I…" she tried to explain, but was too dazed.

"Sit down," I told her. "Let's have a little chat."

I told her how I had come across my powers all those years ago. I told her that I was responsible for Mrs. Joe's death by letting Orlick run past me. I explained every bit of important information from my life. Biddy, in return, explained why she wanted to help me.

"I have always been gifted with great agility. I have practiced fighting for quite some time. I am extremely good. Just give me a chance. Let me fight by your side, Pip."

"You want to fight because you can?" I couldn't believe what I had just heard.

"I want to fight because it's right. Someone out there calling himself the Green Goblin wants the queen dead. I'm not going to stand by and let the ruler of our nation be murdered if I can do something to help prevent it," Biddy clarified. "I have to do this. For England and myself."

"You can help by fighting common thieves," I gave in a little. "The Green Goblin is too dangerous, though. He nearly beat me in our last battle. I don't want to see you dead because I failed to do what any responsible man would have done."

She sighed and said perhaps I was right. Together we had a little fun that night by jumping rooftops and finding petty criminals to "teach a lesson" to.

When we were finished beating up thugs, we stood on a building top to chat a little more.

"Pip, I love you. I really do," Biddy confessed to me. She walked over to me, pulled my mask up to the bottom of my nose and gave me a light kiss on the lips. "I wish things would have worked out between us. But there is some news I haven't told you yet."

"Oh? And what's that?" I asked intrigued by the statement.

"I'm going to marry Joe. The wedding is this Sunday at the church by our house. I'd like you to come…"

I backed away from Biddy and pulled my mask back down. I was shocked at what I had heard. Actually, it was more like traumatized. Joe? She was marrying Joe?! Joe was about forty-five, and Biddy, a twenty-three-year-old, was marrying him? Joe?

"Joe?" I said aloud.

"Yeah." Biddy forced a weak smile.

"That's gross," I said in a low voice, more to myself than Biddy. I didn't say it low enough.

"Excuse me?" Biddy said, offended at my comment.

"Nothing. Never mind. I hope you're very happy with him. What time's the wedding?"

"Noon," I was informed.

"I'll be there."

It was a good thing I kept my mask on. I don't think she would have liked my horrified facial expressions. I just couldn't take losing another girl I loved so dearly. And to one of my best friends, no less. It was too much for me. I flipped backwards off the building and web-swung away.

When I arrived home, everyone in the house was asleep. I took off my costume and put on something that would look a bit more normal to anyone who might wake up. I then went out into the living room, sat down, and just stared. At what? I don't know. I stared at walls, the ceiling, the fireplace, the mantel… It didn't really matter. I just started at stuff while I thought about everything that had happened to me as of late. Then Magwitch woke up.

Magwitch walked out into the living room and sat down beside me on the couch.

"You okay, Pip?" Magwitch asked. I started to believe that he really had my best interests at heart.

"No, not really," I admitted.

"What's wrong, Pip?"

I then found myself telling everything to Abel Magwitch. I told him about the spider bite, me becoming a superhero, my constant striking out with Estella, and everything else about my life. I ended with the happenings with Biddy that night.

"Hmmm… So you're that Spider-Man guy, huh?" he said when I was finished. "Sounds like you have some real problems on your hand. I'll help you out, Pip. I've been more of a father to you than Joe has, anyway."

I cocked my head to the side and stared at Magwitch. Another thing I couldn't believe I was hearing. I decided to ignore the statement. I started staring at things around the room again.

"Don't worry, Pip, everything will be justified. I'll help you out," I heard Magwitch say. I was too busy staring to care.

  
  


11

Sunday came and I didn't want to go to the wedding. I finally decided to show up fashionably late. An hour late to be exact. I arrived at the church at one o'clock P.M. only to find something more horrible than Biddy marrying Joe. The church was on fire!

I raced into the burning building and the only people I saw were two corpses. They were a burning bride and groom at the front of the church.

I yelled out in agony as tears dropped from my face. I didn't care that the building was falling down around me. At that moment I wanted it to collapse. I wanted to die. Then I heard a cackling, high-pitched laugh. I looked out the window and saw the Green Goblin flying around outside.

"That maniac!" I screamed. I ripped off my top layer of clothes revealing my Spider-Man costume. I pulled on my mask and gloves as I jumped out the window of the fiery church.

"Look at what you've done, Goblin!" I screamed in anger. "I am going to kill you! I WILL KILL YOU!"

"That's the thanks I get for doing you a favor, huh? People just don't appreciate what I try to do for them." The goblin flew away laughing.

I jumped into the carriage and tried to follow him. I couldn't, of course. I didn't have the speed with the horse and there were no buildings around to swing from. So I went to the Satis house. For some reason I always ended up there. I crawled around the building until I found Estella. I decided to watch her for a while thinking it might ease some of my tension. She was outside in her garden. She was with another man, so I crept low on roof of the house and strained my ears so I could eavesdrop.

"I'm not going to give you more money so you can go buy more alcohol, Drummle," Estella was saying. "You're always drunk. You waste too much money on…"

"I am your husband and I'll do what I please," Drummle raised his voice.

"Don't talk to me like that," Estella said in return.

Then Drummle smacked Estella across the face. Estella backed away and Drummle raised his arm again. I jumped off my perch on the roof and shot out a web. I swung down connecting my feet with Drummle's jaw. Drummle fell to the ground and was out like a light. I looked back at Estella.

"A-are you all right miss?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Ummm… Who are you?"

"You know who I am," I said before realizing I made a mistake.

"I do?" she asked.

"I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" I jumped up onto the wall and started crawling away when Estella called after me.

"Wait! Spider-Man!"

I crawled back down the wall and waited comfortably upside-down for her to continue.

"Don't I get to thank you?" Estella asked.

She walked over to me and lifted my mask up half way. I had no objections when she pressed her lips against mine. It was a long, passionate kiss. When she released herself from me, I was too stunned to move. When I found my strength again, I pulled my mask back over my mouth and crawled up to the top of the house. I couldn't believe that Estella was actually showing affection! Right before I jumped off the other side of the house, however, I heard Estella scream and a familiar laugh filled the air.

I quickly turned around and saw the Green Goblin fly into the air holding Estella.

"Don't mind me, Spider-Man. I just want to rectify certain inequities," The goblin cackled. "And it can only be done at the Tower Bridge!"

The Green Goblin took off with my voice shrieking after him, "GOOOOBBBBLIIIIIIINNNNN!"

I followed as fast as I could. I must have arrived at the Tower Bridge about twenty minutes after the goblin. I landed on the top of the bridge and I saw the Greed Goblin holding Estella over the edge.

"I thought you should witness the demise of the girl who has been a pain in your rear end for years. Since you were a young boy!"

The Green Goblin dropped Estella and he laughed hysterically. I propelled myself off the bridge and was lucky enough to catch up to Estella. I caught her as I shot a web up which stuck to the side of the bridge. I swung upward, avoiding a hit from the goblin's glider.

"What are you doing? I was helping you! Helping you!" the Green Goblin screeched.

I landed on the top of the bridge and look down at Estella in my arms. She was unconscious and didn't seem to have any bruises. The Green Goblin would pay, though. He killed the woman I loved. He killed someone who was a friend of mine my whole life. Then he tried to kill the last person I have, even if Estella can't return love.

I left Estella on the top of the bridge and I ran to the edge. I looked down and the Green Goblin swooping upwards toward me. I jumped down and let my fist meet his face. The force of my blow took the goblin off his glider and we fell. I shot out a web, but in my blinding rage, I neglected to catch my enemy. He fell into the water below.

I crawled down the side of the bridge and landed beside it. I looked into the water to see if there was any sign of him. There was.

The Green Goblin emerged from the water and jumped up onto his glider when it came down to meet him. I lunged at him and, once again, pushed him off the glider. We fell onto the cement beside the bridge and wrestled around.

For a short period of time we traded punches, then I noticed that I couldn't continue on like that. I got up; the Green Goblin followed after me.

I noticed something in my opponent's hand, just then. It was a small round orange thing. I also noticed a tingling in the back of my skull. It was bomb.

The bomb was hurled at me and I jumped up into the air and clung onto the side of the bridge. There was an explosion down below, but the goblin escaped. He was flying around in the air. He dived at me and I leaped from my perch and shot out a web. I caught onto the goblin's suit and as I fell it pulled the villain down with me. I landed on my feet, but my adversary wasn't as agile as I.

"Get up!" I roared. I grabbed my enemy off the ground and flung him in to the side of the bridge. "Why are you out to get me? Why do you want to ruin my life?" I yelled out as I pounded him with my fists consecutively. I pummeled him over and over until he spoke. It was a soft plea.

"Stop… please, stop… Pip, It's me…"

I watched in suspense as my adversary took off his helmet.

"Abel Magwitch!" I breathed. "How…? Why…?"

"An accident over in the British prison colony. An explosion turned me into this. I came back to get revenge on the British government and to see how you were doing. I saw how much pain others were causing you and I had to put an end to it. So I…"

I cut Magwitch off, "You killed my friends. Everyone I cared about."

"I had to! They were making you suffer. Besides, I've been like a father to you. I made you into a gentleman. It was a dream come true. Please, like I've been a father to you, be a son to me now." It was Magwitch's final request. I wasn't about to give him any satisfaction, however.

I ripped off my mask, looked into his eyes, and told him sternly, "I had a father. His name was Joe Gargery!"

"Very well," Magwitch said. "God speed, Spider-Man."

My spider-sense flared and I jumped into the air. I looked below me and saw Magwitch impaled by a blade protruding from the front of his glider. I landed and I looked at my opponent. All he wanted was to make life better for me. He made it miserable.

I put my mask on and went to get Estella. I brought her back to the Satis house and she thanked me.

"Thank you, Spider-Man. Pip."

I looked at her in shock. Not that she noticed. I still had my mask on.

"I know who you are…"

I didn't let her finish saying what she wanted to say.

"I don't know who you think I am, but you're mistaken." I shot a web up into a nearby tree and swung away.

  
  


I didn't see Estella again for five years, ten months, twenty-eight days, fifteen hours, thirty-nine minutes, and fifty-six seconds.

I was in the cemetery looking at the graves of my parents, Joe, and Biddy. Then I saw Estella enter. She walked over to a grave without noticing me. I went to her and looked at the grave. It was Miss Havisham's.

"When did she die?" I asked

Estella jumped not knowing I was there and then said, "It was about a month before the Green Goblin incident"

I stared at her.

"You never let me finish that night, Pip. I know things have been rough, and I know I might have been part of the problem. But that day, the passionate kiss I gave Spider-Man… I knew whom I was really kissing. I knew it was you. The bad relationship I had with Drummle made me realize what I could have had. I realized what a wonderful person you are and how much you meant to me. I love you, Pip. I love you so much."

She embraced me in her arms and gave me another long, passionate kiss. Something I longed for since we last parted.

I never knew how she found out I was Spider-Man. Maybe my voice? It didn't matter. I just knew I couldn't tell her how much I loved her. I wanted to so badly, but I didn't want to endanger her life ever again. I couldn't do it.

I pulled away from her and said, "I can't…"

"Can't what?" Estella inquired.

"I can't tell you…" I caught myself, "everything. There's so much to tell, I mean. I just want you to know I will always be there for you. I will always be your friend."

"Only a friend?" Estella's eyes started to water up, but I had to go through with it. I've had to endure a lot of pain before. I could take this.

"It's all I have to offer. That along with a walk home." I put my arm around Estella and she hugged me as I walked her home.

Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: With great power comes great responsibility. I don't know what will become of Estella and me. Hopefully, someday we'll be able to be with each other for the rest of our lives. Lord knows neither of us has anyone else.

But for now, this is my gift; this is my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-Pip!


End file.
